


Fly, Fly, Fly

by Archaeopteryx_Feather



Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-26 11:05:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7571731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archaeopteryx_Feather/pseuds/Archaeopteryx_Feather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Starscream was an explorer: self sufficient, driven and resourceful. But when his best friend, Skyfire, disappears in a freak storm, the young Seeker is up against his biggest challenge yet. Will his courage and skill be enough to fulfill his new mission—to save Skyfire, whatever the cost?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fly, Fly, Fly

Starscream's excitement mounted as they drew nearer to the S-Ds-58976. The star was a yellow G-type sun and one of the brightest stars in the Firework Galaxy, but neither he nor Skyfire were interested in its plasmous glory. It was impossible to be interested in a mere sun when S-Ds-III, the third planet in the system, had liquid oceans. Water could mean the richest prize of all: organic life.

The silver Seeker mentally counted down the minutes as they coasted in, passing a trinary star system and slowly decelerating. It had taken them almost twenty-seven years to reach the planet. Twenty-five of those years had been spent in stasis as they crossed the vast barren expanse between the Great Spiral and the Firework. The final two had been spent exploring. Cybertron's home galaxy was now visible only as a faint glowing blur; they were truly flying where no one had left a contrail.

"Think it'll have any life?" Skyfire asked.

"283," Starscream replied. "That's a lucky number, don't you think? I have a good feeling about this one."

S-Ds-III was the 283rd destination of interest on their journey, though that number was subject to change upon a whim. Most of their trip had been planned out in advance when they arrived in the Firework. They had set up the net of SURVEY telescopes at the edge of the Magnificent Arm and spent several weeks waiting impatiently while it compiled data on Firework's 300 billion stars. There was certainly no way they could visit all of them, but why bother when they could cherry pick the most interesting systems? They had compiled a list of 1,056 nearby destinations of interest, many of which promised to host organic life.

But thus far they had been unlucky—only one planet had hosted life, and mere unicellular life at that. Skyfire, always hoping for intelligent life, had been waiting to arrive at 283 since the moment SURVEY had found a water rich planet in the habitable zone.

Now, however, he was doing an excellent job of hiding his enthusiasm.

"Aren't you excited, Skyfire?" Starscream said.

"I'm trying not to get my hopes up."

"It doesn't get any better than this. A beautiful blue orb situated in a soothingly warm, comfortably cool orbit around a mellow star, a soft cradle for the ooze of life...perfect. Absolutely perfect."

"Very poetic," Skyfire said, laughing. "You should write tourist brochures."

"I do my best. Now confess. You're excited out of your mind."

But Skyfire had decided to be contrary. In a voice that was equal parts earnest and teasing, he said, "As a serious scientist, I cannot in good conscience share in this impermissible excess of enthusiasm. In fact, to prove my sincere disinterest in planet 283, I propose that we stop for a few days to make a closer examination of this _fascinating_ asteroid field."

"Ugh, asteroids," Starscream groaned. "Why does the universe have to have so many slagging asteroids?"

"After that, I recommend we spend a few days taking samples of the local dust medium."

"Mercy! Mercy!"

Skyfire dropped the pompous tone and assumed a smiling voice, "To be honest Starscream, I have to admit I have a good feeling about this one too—but a small, restrained good feeling. "

Starscream opened the expedition log and recorded aloud, "We're approaching 283. Skyfire is wild with excitement."

"No I'm not!"

They were closing in on the planet now; it was a bright white-blue speck in the distance, growing larger as they approached. The shapes of clouds and continents began to resolve, then colors: blue, white, brown—and green.

"Plants! It has life!" Starscream cried. "See, see, I told you! I told you!"

Skyfire just chuckled. "Are you sure you don't want to stop and take dust samples?"

283 became a solid sphere, half cloaked in darkness yet shining brilliantly where the sun caught the oceans. A dead grey moon, cratered and blasted, hung in the distance. They passed it by and curved around the planet's side, dropping easily into a high orbit. A blue film of atmosphere wrapped around the planet like an aura, and around the pole hung a fluorescent crown of red aurora.

Starscream trailed behind Skyfire's wing, watching the continents spin slowly by.

"Looks very promising," Skyfire remarked. "There might even be intelligent life."

Starscream decided to keep teasing his friend. "I don't see any lights on the dark side. Is someone letting their wild enthusiasm get the best of them again, hmm?"

Skyfire gave a pedantic snort. "I didn't say there _would_ be intelligent life. I said there _might_ be intelligent life."

"Semantics!"

"Well, let's get closer and find out, shall we?" Skyfire replied good humoredly.

"Let me guess—you have a _good feeling_ about it. But a small, restrained good feeling."

"Oh, hush you," Skyfire replied.

They had worked together for so long that neither of them had to ask what they would do next. With well-practiced coordination they heeled over and Skyfire led the way to the northernmost pole of the planet. The ice-covered top would not be a particularly life-dense area, but it was a useful place to start. A north to south pole sweep of the entire biosphere would give them a preliminary look at the ecosystem they would spend the next few months documenting.

Starscream dipped his nose and fell into the atmosphere. The perfect silence of space gave way abruptly to a shocking howl as the wind rushed over his sleek pyramidal frame. Air became fire. His hull, cooled to mere degrees above absolute zero, creaked and whined as the thermal-resistant plating abruptly warmed to 3,000 degrees. At his side, Skyfire was glowing in infrared like a miniature sun. Starscream gave a whoop of delight as he streaked downwards.

Below them, the bland white expanse of ice began to take on shape and form; there was a gray ocean divided by snow-covered islands, inlets and bays. Starscream magnified as far as he could, looking for animals on those rocky shores, but he was still too far out to see.

His body underwent an inner transformation as he pulled his lightdrive into subspace and replaced it with turbines and atmospheric thrusters. Now he was no longer a creature of space, but a creature of the air. Still he fell, careening down like a meteor.

They slashed through a bank of clouds and swooped down until they were skimming across the choppy surface of the ocean towards a mountainous coast. The wind was rougher than Starscream had expected, and he found himself bouncing uncomfortably as he cut through the turbulence. He drew apart from Skyfire to give himself more room to maneuver.

As they crossed the coastline, the water gave way to barren ice, and Starscream felt a stab of disappointment. There were no animals or birds to be seen—the planet might not be advanced enough to host any. _I should be grateful for plants, I suppose,_ he thought, but even the prospect of the lushest verdure paled in comparison to the exotic bestiary he had painted in his imagination. _Maybe they're all hiding from this wind._

If anything, the wind was getting worse. It was the sort of weather Starscream might have enjoyed playing in at another time, but right now it was just an annoying distraction.

They roared low over a snow covered ridge. Beyond was a thick wall of blowing snow.

"Not much to see, is there?" Starscream remarked.

Then the wall hit.

He didn't even have time to cry out before the wind screamed over him and took him. Suddenly the sky was white froth. Artificial darkness fell over the world as the snow blotted out the sun. He struggled instinctively against the grip of the angry wind, but it was like being caught up in a torrent of whitewater.

At his side he caught a glimpse of Skyfire twisting as he fought for control. A sudden gust hurled them towards each other. _Watch out!_ he thought. _No—!_

Before they touched, Skyfire banked away and shot off. The bright reds and blues of his jolting form dissolved into the whiteness of wind-whipped snow.

A blast of wind smashed Starscream around and he suddenly found himself plummeting towards the ground in a full stall. With a desperate snarl he kicked on his afterburners and threw all his effort into leveling out. He had fought storms before; he wasn't going to let this one win. He brought his antigravs online, stabilizing himself. With deft motions of his ailerons he turned his plummet into a controlled, if erratic glide.

The ground was invisible in the snow, but Starscream could see it on his sensors. He found a flattish place that looked solid and made for it. Blasts of wind rocked him, shoving him back towards the ocean as if the planet were trying to hurl him away from itself.

_Nice try,_ he thought. _I've been through worse than you've got._

Turning off his engines, he descended on antigravs. The storm jerked him back and forth, and the spot he had aimed for was too far, then too close, then off to the side. At just the right moment, he transformed.

He landed on both feet with a crunch.

" _Haha!"_ He threw back his head and laughed. _"Yes! Yes!_ " Spreading out his arms, he embraced the wind for a moment. It guttered in his intakes and scrabbled at his wings, screeching its futile rage at him. A feeling of power swelled inside him like a sweet drug, and he almost felt like throwing himself back into the sky to do it all over again.

But common sense prevailed. Still laughing, Starscream sat down in the snow before the wind could topple him over and spoil the moment. He lifted his head to the sky, letting the snow caress his face. He hadn't been in a storm this intense for ages. At times like this he felt so alive that the rest of life seemed like an empty shadow.

He decided to see how Skyfire was doing. Reconfiguring his comm for the planet's atmosphere, he transmitted, "Skyfire, you okay? I just landed. Scrap, that was fun."

There was no reply. Starscream gave a little pout, then realized Skyfire might have bigger things on his mind than answering his comm. He would just have to wait.

He looked around. There wasn't much to see beyond a white blur of snow. The wind crowded his optics with icy needles, and he could feel the snow melting around him as the heat of his body gradually drained away.

"I guess I wait for the storm to let up," he said. His voice was lost in the howling of the wind.

He settled himself more comfortably, shook the snow out of his steaming thrusters, and scooped up a handful of snow. With a quick gesture he tossed it into the wind and watched it whisk away. Then, taking a reading on his airspeed indicator, he turned on his log.

"I'm on 283 now. Not a very friendly place. Snowing heavily. Wind speed is about 190 mph, with gusts up to 205. Very brisk; I had a fun landing." He grinned to himself, imagining Skyfire's reaction to his choice of words. "There is life, plant life anyway. Not that I've seen any of it yet. Must wait till storm lets up to continue; will begin taking readings on gravity, atmosphere comp., etc. in the meantime." He closed his log.

 

For several hours he entertained himself by gathering readings and entering them into the log forms. Periodically he tried calling Skyfire, but without success. He supposed the other jet was either out of range or hidden behind a mountain.

Evening fell sooner than he had expected. He reminded himself that the planet was tilted on its axis: in the high latitudes there would be very little daylight at all during winter. He recorded the observation in his log and noted the time of nightfall for later reference.

Soon he could no longer see anything beyond the tiny red circle of light cast by his optics. He considered turning on his exterior lights, but it seemed pointless since there was nothing to see. All he could do was sit, listening to the wind shriek and moan. When he turned off his optics as an experiment, he felt curiously disembodied, as if he were floating in a stormy sea. The wind caught at his wings, then fretted his intakes. All was motion and noise, yet nothing moved.

"Staaaarscreeaaaam!" a voice called.

His brought his optics back online. "Skyfire?" he said. Quickly he opened his comm and repeated, "Skyfire?"

There was no reply. He got to his feet and yelled, "Skyfire!" A moment passed, then he added, "I'm over here!" Still there was nothing.

He wondered if he had really heard anything at all. It made no sense that Skyfire would yell rather than using the comm. _Just the wind, I guess,_ he thought.

He settled back down. The spot he had been sitting in was already full of snow. He remembered a legend he had heard once on a far distant planet. According to the story, there were dead spirit-birds that lived in the wind and cried out the names of lost children to lure them to their death. The wind gave a particularly lifelike shriek, and a chill ran through him.

"Let's not start scaring ourselves," he muttered.

_"Wheeeere aaaare yooou?_ someone cried in the distance.

Starscream paused. Then, uncertainly, he shouted, "I'm over here!" He turned about, trying to tell where in the blackness it had come from, but he could not say. Snow battered his face and filled up his intakes. Absurd, of course. It was just the wind and he knew it. This time he didn't bother with his comm.

The night wore on, and the wind kept screaming. Again and again, he thought he heard his name being called, or Skyfire yelling something unintelligible at him, the garbled voice now near, then far away. Once, he got up and walked towards where he thought the sound was coming from, only to stumble on a hidden outcrop and fall flat on his face.

"And that," he observed wryly, "Is how the spirit-birds deal with foolish children."

After that he stayed put.

He welcomed the pale, snow-shrouded dawn with relief. Now that he could see again, it was obvious that the wind had lessened. It was still not safe to fly in, but he could afford to wait. To celebrate the passing of night, he raided his energon store and gobbled down two handfuls of energon goodies.

"Morale is reviving," he reported in his log.

When the wind got down to 100 mph, he took off and forced his way upwards, relying mostly on antigravs. It was easier going this time. Soon he punched through a layer of clouds and found himself in calm air. Around him silvery clouds basked in the light of a chill morning sun. The air was thick with cold.

He tried Skyfire again and felt irritation when there was still no response. Apparently Skyfire was now on the other side of the planet. Starscream's annoyance mounted. _He could have at least asked how I was doing before he took off to go have fun without me._

He decided that the first order of business was to find his friend. Cruising up into the pale blue sky, he made his way into orbit. 283 hung silently below him just as before, the planet's serene visage giving no hint to the chaos that had reigned on the surface.

"Skyfire, where are you?" he asked the planet below. He circled the planet, sending out pings and waiting for a response. Once, twice, three times he orbited, puzzled and increasingly irritated.

It wasn't until the fourth time around that he felt a new emotion: worry.


End file.
